Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
DWP asserts no economic model dictates meeting length and highlights system flexibility.
Conclusion
In our October 2025 oral evidence session, the Department highlighted that there was never an economic model that said the length of the first meeting should be 50 rather than 30 minutes. It also emphasised that there was flexibility in the system, for example to allow for initial meetings to be extended or for subsequent meetings to be arranged. The Accounting Officer recounted a recent visit to a jobcentre where he had seen a work coach extend an initial meeting to 40 minutes, knowing that their next customer had not arrived. Had the next customer been waiting, the work coach had said they would have decided whether the conversation needed to be continued there and then, and asked a colleague to take their next appointment if needed, or rebooked the first customer for another appointment if not. The Department also noted that the claimant commitment meeting was the start of a process–that meeting was followed by weekly meetings for claimants in the Intensive Work Search category for the first 13 weeks of their claim, so the conversations could continue.19 Transparency of local jobcentre performance
Government Response Summary
The department will be undertaking a qualitative research project to gather claimant insight on their experiences at the initial claimant commitment meeting. It will use the findings from this qualitative research alongside learning from the claimant commitment testing in its Pathfinder sites to consider the best way to provide support to claimants throughout their claim.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2027 2.2 All sites have now moved to a 30-minute initial claimant commitment meeting for new claimants, and the department recognises the importance of understanding the impact on the claimant experience from implementing this change. 2.3 The department will be undertaking a qualitative research project to gather claimant insight on their experiences at the initial claimant commitment meeting. This will include feedback on the length and content of the meeting. 2.4 As part of the department’s plans to develop the Jobs and Careers Service, it will use the findings from this qualitative research alongside learning from the claimant commitment 18 testing in its Pathfinder sites to consider the best way to provide support to claimants throughout their claim.